William mason



(No Model.) W MASON.

BREEGH LOADING FIRE ARM. No. 247,376. Patented Sept. 20,1881

7772. 777a umz Jud/en UNrrE STATE Parana Fries.

NVILLIAM MASON, OF HARTEORl CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE COLTS PATENTFIRE-ARMS MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

'BREECH-L'OADING. FIRE-ARM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No 247,376, dated.September 20, 1881;

' Application filed May 21,1881. (Nomodel) To all "whom it may concern VBe it known that I, WM. MASON, of Hartford, in the county of Hartfordand State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement inBreeCll'IlUlldlllg Fire-Arms; and I do hereby declare the following,when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the lettersof reference marked thereon, to bee f'ill, clear, and exact descriptionof the same,and which said drawings constitute part of thisspecification, and represent, in-- Figure l, a sectional side view ofthe parts in their normal condition; Fig. 2, the same with the barreltilted,- Fig. 3, a modification.

:5 This invention relates toanimprovement in that class of arms in whichthe barrel or barrels are hung l'orward and so that the breech end tipsup to open the cartridge-chainber, and

known as barrel tilting up at the breech,

and with special reference to what are known as concealed hammers thatis to say, the

hammer-arranged within the receiver of the arm and cocked in the act ofitilting the barrels.

The invention consists in a rock-shaft ar 2 5 ranged beneath the barrelstransverselythereto, and substantially the axis upon which the barrelsturn, and in connection with the barrel, so that as the barrels aretilted the rock-shaft will turn upon its axis, combined with amainspring hung to said shaft, its doubled end hung to said shaft, theother two ends hinged to the hammer respectively, the one infroht andthe other in rear of the pivotfas more fully hereinafter described.

A represents the frame of the receiver, extending forward beneath thebarrels B, as at O, the forward end rounded. to receive the forearm I),in substantially the usual manner. In a recess in the receiver thehammcr E is hung upon a pivot, a,the upper end ornose arranged.

to strilge a firing-pin,b; orit maybe constructed with a projectionwhich will pass through an opening, in the breech'end of the receiver tostrike the primer.

F is a transverse rock-shaft arranged at the forward end of thereceiver, lit-heath the barrel, and forming substantially the axis onwhich the barrels turn in tilting. On the said rockshaft 2. cam-likeprojectioinf, is formed upon so the upperside, and asimilercamprojectiomh, draws the mainepring forward, asindicated in roe below,and on the under side ot' 'the barrela projecting lug, l, is formed tohook over the rock-shaft, its front surface engagingtthe cams f h, asshown, so that when the barrels are tilted the surface of the lug abovethe pivot bears against the cam f and turns the roe-ls shaft forward.Then, in returning the barrels, the surface of the lug on the other sidehears upon the cam hand turns the rock'shaft in the opposite direction;

In the best adaptation of this invention a bell-crank lever is hunginreariot' tlie shaft-F upon a pivot, d, one arm, 0, entering a recesson the rear surface ofthc shaft, the other arm, f, extending upward, andto this upper arm the doubled end of the V-sh'aped mainspring is hung,asupon a pivot, h, thetwo endsot' the mainspring extending towardthehammer, one

end,'i, hung to the hammerforward of its pivot, as at l, the othereml,m,of the mainspring hung to the hammerin rearof the pivot, as atn, theconnection between the hammer and'the respective ends of the inainspringbeing by the common and well-known link, s, and strut it.

When the barn-ls are tilted,-a sln Fig.2, the rock-shaft F moves fromthe position denoted in Fig. l to that denoted in Fig. 1?, throwing upthe arm c of the bell-crank lever and turning the otherarm,f, to therear toward the hammer. In this movement of the lever the mainspringacts as a connection to the hammer to impart the movement of the leverto the hammer-'that is, pressing it backward-the lower end, i, of themainspring bearing against the hammer above the pivot, as at 1', whichforces. the hammer to full-cock, where it is engaged by the sear H. Inthe act ofcocking theham mer the tw ends of the mainspring are car 'riedrearward, the pivot n, to which the end at of the mainspring attached,beirigln rear 0! the hammer-pivot, is carried downw 'nd, and the point1, to which the eudt'ot' the inninspring is attached, or upon which itbears, being forwardofthe hammenpivot, is raiser. with the end 0% thernainspriug-that is, in ocking the hammer the two ends of the mainspringare brought together, as seen in Fig.2. Then whep the barrels arereturned, leaving thehammer at full-cock, the lever is also returned,which the their broken lines, Fig. 2. The link-connections between theinninspring and the hammer are brought from their rearward inclinedposition to .nrly

applied pertinllyin tilting the barrels and corn pleted in their return.

l ihile prefer the bell-crank lever, the forward end of theunainspringmay be hung directly to the shaft below its center, as seen in Fig. 3,so that from the rotation of the shaft the spring will. receivesubstantially the same movement as imparted by the lever, and act uponthe hnmnnerin the samemanner. Itherefore do not wish to limit theinvention to the employment of the lever.

It will be understood bythose skilled in the art that, while speciallyintended for doublebarreled arms, this invention may be applied tosinglebnrrel arms.

In another application for patent, which I have entitled {)aseA, I haveshown the rockshaft arrenged in the same manner as in this application,but with a different intermediate mechanism. I therefore do not in thisapplication make broad claim to thetransversc rockshaft rotated by theopening and closing movements of the barrel to cock the hammer; but

What I do claim is-- l. in fire-arms in which the breech is opened lperpendicular, so that the end mot by the barrel tilting up at thebreech, the combination therewith of a transverse rock-shaft arrangedsubstantially at the axis upon which the barrels tn1'n,an extension fromthe barrels into connection with said rock-shaft, so that as the barrelsare tilted said shattwill be turned, a hammer hung nt' the rear with a\i-shaped mainspring, and mechanism, snbstantiallysuch as described,to'connect the doubled end of said mainspring with the shaft, so that asthe shaft is rotated by tilting the barrels the said spring is forced tothe rear and returned as the barrels are closed,the two ends ot'themainspring' hung t0 the hammer, the one forward of the hammer-pivot, theother in rear of said pivot, substantially as described.

2. In firearms in which the breech is opened by the barrel tilting up atthe breech, thecoinbination therewith ot' a transverse rock-shaftarranged substantially at the axis upon which the barrels turn,anextension fromthe barrels into connection with said rock-shaft, so thatas the barrels are tilted said shaft will be turned, a hammer hung atthe rear with n bell-crank lever, one arm of which engages with saidrockshai't, a. V-shaped mainspring hung by its doubled end to the otherarm ot'snid lever, the

two endsof the spring hung to the hammer respcctively, the one forwardoi',the other in rear of, the pivot upon which the hammer turns,

substantially as described. WILLIAM MASON.

Witnesses:

- E. F. BODWELL,

SAM WALKER.

